All posts by Michelle Layton

Many of our projects here at Clue Dental Marketing call for photographs of our clients and their staff. Read on to learn how to take professional portraits yourself that look great and don’t break the bank!

1: Find the best camera in your practice!
Most dental offices have digital cameras for patient photos, intraoral photos or before and after photos. This same camera may be used! If you do not have a digital camera, someone’s cell phone may be used. The newer, higher end cell phones tend to have better cameras.

2: Find the best location in your practice!
Find a large, flat wall with a solid color, a light background works best. Remove any photos, decorations or any clutter from the wall.

3: Keep it Simple
Do not include any objects, pets or children. The photo should be of only you.

4: Dress Professionally
Make sure your photo depicts you in a manner that is appropriate for dentistry. Typically, this would be a dress shirt or blouse, a shirt and tie, or even a suit. Choose solid dark colors like blue or black. Avoid white or light colors! Avoid strapless dresses or strapless tops. Always avoid too much makeup or jewelry.

5: Stand about 10 feet away.
It’s important to have some distance so that there is enough area around you to crop and resize later in Photoshop.

6: Strike a pose!
Be sure to turn slightly to the right (your left shoulder would be closer to the camera) as opposed to taking the photo straight on (where both shoulders would be the same distance to the camera).

This is helpful because most of the photos will be used on the right side of the document, website, or any other use and you will be facing “in” to the document.

7: Take several TYPES of photos
Try out using flash, no flash, standard exposure and/or HDR exposure. Take the photos in portrait mode (vertical) not landscape (horizontal). Take 3-5 versions of each TYPE of photo.

8: Compare all photos and choose the best TYPE of photo
Look at the photos you’ve taken and choose which type of photo seems best. For example, if you pick a photo with flash for one person, you should also use photos with flash for everyone else.

9: Choose the best photos from the same TYPE
Now, look only at the flash photos (or whichever type of photo you chose from earlier) and choose the best one to send to Clue’s designers and we will work them into your project!